This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Peterson, A. F. Articles by Baybeck, B. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Bringing the Spatial In

The Case of the 2002 Seattle Monorail Referendum

University of Washington

Barbara Sgouraki Kinsey

University of Central Florida

Hugh Bartling

DePaul University

Brady Baybeck

University of Missouri–St. Louis

Contests over public goods remain at the forefront of urban political battles in nearly every major city in the United States. The spatial location of the good can play an instrumental role in understanding the contours and outcomes of such conflicts. The authors explore a particular case—voting for a growth-related development project, the monorail, by referendum in the city of Seattle—and examine how a grassroots campaign successfully mobilized voters by targeting both their particularistic and collective interests. The authors conduct analysis at the precinct level and use spatial tools of analysis and ecological inference, finding that voter support for the monorail stemmed from the location of the proposed route and the campaign's progressive appeals to environmental, social justice, and high tech concerns. Although cost overruns ultimately derailed construction of the monorail in 2005, when passed in 2002, the monorail was the most expensive infrastructure project in Seattle's history.

Key Words: cological inference • mass transit • public goods • referenda • Seattle • spatial analysis • voter behavior

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?